http://ir.library.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/363 Scholarly Works 2026-04-07T18:54:38Z http://ir.library.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/8875 Title: The rise of Ethiopian churches in Nigeria: a reaction against religious colonisation in Africa Authors: Mepaiyeda, S. M. Abstract: Colonisation of Africa by the European nations in the 19th century could be adjudged as a means of development in some facets of life, yet its resultant effects among others was cultural enslavement of the indigenes. Such negative effect was rebuffed by a few educated A fricans withnationalistic consciousness. In a similar vein, A frican Christians reacted against what can be termed religious colonisation orchestrated by European Missionaries who among other evils, ostracised African Christians from the mainline churches because of polygamy, condemned the institution of chieftaincy and grossly discriminated against the natives in the polity of the Church. The inhuman treatment of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther and Rev James Johnson exemplified this anti-African attitude of the European Missionaries. Hence the emergence of Ethiopian Churches in Nigeriatowards the end of the 19th century and at the turn of the 20th century served as a religious expression of nationalism in Africa. There fore, this paper seeks to investigate the dynamism of religious expressions of nationalism in Nigeria as typified by The African Church and others with nationalistic tendencies with a view to determining how the claims of religious nationalists interfaced with Henry Venn's principles of evangelisation in Africa. Historical method was adopted for the collection of data. 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z http://ir.library.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/8874 Title: Evaluating the significance of radical reformation exemplified by Lutheran spiritualists and the Anabaptists to global christianity Authors: Mepaiyeda, S. M. Abstract: The efforts of the fourteen century revivalist movements served as eye-openers to the rots in the Church. All of them leveraged on Biblical information as strategy to sanitize the Church that was invaded by worldliness and guided largely by traditions, human pronouncements as well as some unscriptural practices. With the sixteen century decisive reformation masterminded by Martin Luther, people had thought that the efforts of the reformers were the last move that Christianity needed to sanitize the Church but the rise of radical reformers suggested that over-emphasis of some doctrinal issues at the expense of others of great importance by the classical reformers deprived the Church of reconstruction it needed. This paper attempts to examine the roles played by some individuals and groups to radicalize Christianity through their brand of reformation; and consequently bring to the fore the implications of their expressed concerns on the Church, using historical method. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z http://ir.library.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/8873 Title: The interface between the sacrificial rites in yoruba religion and African indigenous churches Authors: Mepaiyeda, S. M. Abstract: The idea of sacrifice which by definition has remained multi-dimensional and generalised has continued to be an attractive concept in religious and theological discourse. The reason is that sacrifice seems to connote different meanings to different people, especially adherents of different religions. Even in the same religion such as Christianity for instance, people express divergent understanding of the concept. To some groups of Christians, the suffering and death of Jesus Christ epitomise the sacrifice sufficient for all generations. But some Christian denominations share the view of African Religions, which is similar to Judaist religion on sacrifice as a daily and practical offering of food, objects or the lives of animals to God, the ancestors or spirits for the purpose of achieving individual or general well- being of the society. This paper therefore seeks to bring to the fore some sacrificial practices among the African Indigenous Churches which have resemblance in Yoruba religion with a view to determining the validity of such practices within the biblical context and the history of African Christianity. 2020-12-01T00:00:00Z http://ir.library.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/8872 Title: The roles of indigenous missionaries and christians in the expansion of christianity in Nigeria, 1860-1969 Authors: Mepaiyeda, S. M; Popoola, T. Abstract: The contextual perspective that this article challenges is the neglect of significant contributions of indigenous African missionaries and Christians by some early missionary historiographers whose writings largely focused on European missionaries. This created a lacuna in the proper documentation of African missionary enterprises. The research will not only serve as a platform to discover the socio-religious importance of past African Christian heroes of Nigerian origin but also provide additional information on existing African historiography not from the perspective of Europeans but Africans, using both theological and scientific approaches with the aim of presenting more accurate records in church history. This will serve as a biography of African Christianity. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article has intra- and interdisciplinary implications for African philosophy, African traditional religion and ethics because most theories and views of Africans in these fields are yet to be largely researched to bring into the limelight their relevance to African realities. 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z